Saints offense too much for Texans

New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush scores a touchdown on Saturday against Houston's Bernard Pollard (31) in the first quarter in the Louisiana Superdome.

The Associated Press

Mary FosterThe Associated Press

Published: Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 11:45 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 11:52 p.m.

NEW ORLEANS — Playing in the Louisiana Superdome for the first time since the NFC championship game last season, New Orleans' high-powered offense picked up where it left off, rolling over the Houston Texans 38-20 Saturday night.

Drew Brees, who played for only one quarter, led New Orleans to two touchdowns — handing off to Reggie Bush for a 9-yard score and leaping over center for a 1-yard TD that put New Orleans up 14-0.

There was not much of a drop off when Chase Daniel took over in the second quarter. The Saints outgained Houston 409 yards to 291 and had the football for 40 minutes.

Brees completed 5 of 10 for 36 yards.

Daniel worked the last three quarters and completed 15 of 21 for 182 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

"What I wanted to do was give him a lot of reps and I'll try to do the same with Patrick next week when Drew (Brees) comes out," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "At some point I wanted to just see how he would do No. 1 with the first offense and then how he would handle it with the second offense."

Daniel said he was pleased with his overall performance.

"I think I played pretty well," Daniel said. "I was confident in the huddle. Very comfortable running the offense and coach called some great plays out there."

Playing with the first-team offense certainly helped.

"Big time," Daniel said. "Playing with those guys, it makes you a better quarterback. It makes things easier on you and really you just go out there and play the game."

The Texans did little to sort out their running back situation. Arian Foster started Saturday's game, and had six carries for 28 yards and a touchdown. Foster lost a fumble in the second quarter.

The Saints got help from the Texans' turnovers. Houston lost 2 of three fumbles. Trindon Holiday's muffed catch of a first-quarter punt set up the Saints' second touchdown. Pierson Prioleau recovered the muffed punt

"We didn't do anything really well last week," Prioleau said. "We didn't' practice well in New England and we didn't play well in the game. Not to our standards. This week we practiced with a little bit more intensity and we had a little bit more focus and we played better."

Saints defensive end Will Smith said after failing to get a turnover last week against the New England Patriots, the defense was pleased to get a few against the Texans.

"That's something we worked on," he said. "We didn't really get a chance to work on it in New England. We went back to the drawing board and did those up-downs that everybody hates. You could see it (Saturday). Everybody was trying to get that ball."

Steve Slaton — Foster's main challenger for the starting spot— ran 5 times for 19 yards, Slaton also had two kick returns for 88 yards, including one for 68 yards.

<p>NEW ORLEANS — Playing in the Louisiana Superdome for the first time since the NFC championship game last season, New Orleans' high-powered offense picked up where it left off, rolling over the Houston Texans 38-20 Saturday night.</p><p>Drew Brees, who played for only one quarter, led New Orleans to two touchdowns — handing off to Reggie Bush for a 9-yard score and leaping over center for a 1-yard TD that put New Orleans up 14-0.</p><p>There was not much of a drop off when Chase Daniel took over in the second quarter. The Saints outgained Houston 409 yards to 291 and had the football for 40 minutes.</p><p>Brees completed 5 of 10 for 36 yards.</p><p>Daniel worked the last three quarters and completed 15 of 21 for 182 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once.</p><p>"What I wanted to do was give him a lot of reps and I'll try to do the same with Patrick next week when Drew (Brees) comes out," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "At some point I wanted to just see how he would do No. 1 with the first offense and then how he would handle it with the second offense."</p><p>Daniel said he was pleased with his overall performance.</p><p>"I think I played pretty well," Daniel said. "I was confident in the huddle. Very comfortable running the offense and coach called some great plays out there."</p><p>Playing with the first-team offense certainly helped.</p><p>"Big time," Daniel said. "Playing with those guys, it makes you a better quarterback. It makes things easier on you and really you just go out there and play the game."</p><p>Houston quarterback Matt Schaub completed 8 of 10 for 117 yards. Dan Orlovsky completed 12 of 19 for 140 yards and a touchdown.</p><p>The Texans did little to sort out their running back situation. Arian Foster started Saturday's game, and had six carries for 28 yards and a touchdown. Foster lost a fumble in the second quarter.</p><p>The Saints got help from the Texans' turnovers. Houston lost 2 of three fumbles. Trindon Holiday's muffed catch of a first-quarter punt set up the Saints' second touchdown. Pierson Prioleau recovered the muffed punt</p><p>"We didn't do anything really well last week," Prioleau said. "We didn't' practice well in New England and we didn't play well in the game. Not to our standards. This week we practiced with a little bit more intensity and we had a little bit more focus and we played better."</p><p>Saints defensive end Will Smith said after failing to get a turnover last week against the New England Patriots, the defense was pleased to get a few against the Texans.</p><p>"That's something we worked on," he said. "We didn't really get a chance to work on it in New England. We went back to the drawing board and did those up-downs that everybody hates. You could see it (Saturday). Everybody was trying to get that ball."</p><p>Steve Slaton — Foster's main challenger for the starting spot— ran 5 times for 19 yards, Slaton also had two kick returns for 88 yards, including one for 68 yards.</p><p>The Saints ran for 198 yards. Bush had 49 yards and rookie Chris Ivory had 66 yards.</p><p>Kris Brown has been the Texans' kicker since the franchise began. This year he's competing with Neil Rackers. Coach Gary Kubiak said performance in the preseason games will settle the competition.</p><p>Against the Saints, Rackers kicked a 52-yard field goal and Brown hit a 43-yarder.</p><p>WWL-Tv Eyewitness Sports Bradley Handwerger contributed to this story.</p>